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arXiv:2203.14230 · Physical Review Applied

dc Quantum Magnetometry below the Ramsey Limit

A. A. Wood, Alastair D. Stacey, A. Martin

Published Nov 7, 2022• 10 citations
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Abstract

We demonstrate quantum sensing of dc magnetic fields that exceeds the sensitivity of conventional ${T}_{2}^{\ensuremath{\ast}}$-limited dc magnetometry by more than an order of magnitude. We use nitrogen-vacancy centers in a diamond rotating at periods comparable to the spin coherence time, and characterize the dependence of magnetic sensitivity on measurement time and rotation speed. Our method up-converts only the dc field of interest and preserves the quantum coherence of the sensor. These results definitively improve the sensitivity of a quantum magnetometer to dc fields, demonstrating that sensitivity below the ${T}_{2}^{\ensuremath{\ast}}$ limit is possible and can be applied to any diamond magnetometer where ${T}_{2}\ensuremath{\gg}{T}_{2}^{\ensuremath{\ast}}$ to yield an order-of-magnitude sensitivity improvement.

DOI
10.1103/physrevapplied.18.054019

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We demonstrate quantum sensing of dc magnetic fields that exceeds the sensitivity of conventional T2\ensuremath∗{T}_{2}^{\ensuremath{\ast}}T2\ensuremath∗​-limited dc magnetometry by more than an order of magnitude. We use nitrogen-vacancy centers in a diamond rotating at periods comparable to the spin coherence time, and characterize the dependence of magnetic sensitivity on measurement time and rotation speed. Our method up-converts only the dc field of interest and preserves the quantum coherence of the sensor. These results definitively improve the sensitivity of a quantum magnetometer to dc fields, demonstrating that sensitivity below the T2\ensuremath∗{T}_{2}^{\ensuremath{\ast}}T2\ensuremath∗​ limit is possible and can be applied to any diamond magnetometer where T2\ensuremath≫T2\ensuremath∗{T}_{2}\ensuremath{\gg}{T}_{2}^{\ensuremath{\ast}}T2​\ensuremath≫T2\ensuremath∗​ to yield an order-of-magnitude sensitivity improvement.
Magnetic sensors are typically much more sensitive to oscillating (AC) magnetic fields than static (DC) fields, due to the presence of more noise at lower frequency, typically scaling with a 1/f1/f1/f dependence. For quantum magnetometers, this characteristic noise is reflected in the ensemble dephasing time T2∗T_2^*T2∗​, the relevant sensing time for a DC field, being much lower than the spin coherence time T2T_2T2​, which determines the sensitivity to AC fields. Here, we demonstrate measurement of DC magnetic fields using a physically rotating ensemble of nitrogen-vacancy centres at a precision limited by the electron spin coherence time, T2T_2T2​. We rotate the host diamond with a period comparable to T2T_2T2​, such that the angle between the NV axis and the magnetic field to be detected changes as a function of time, upconverting the static magnetic field to an oscillating field in the physically rotating frame. Using spin-echo interferometry, we observe an order of magnitude improvement in DC magnetometer response compared to a conventional Ramsey experiments. Enhancements to our scheme could realise DC sensitivities equivalent to demonstrated AC magnetic field sensitivities with NV centres.
Diamond-based quantum magnetometers are more sensitive to oscillating (ac) magnetic fields than static (dc) fields because the crystal impurity-induced ensemble dephasing time T2∗{T}_{2}^{*}T2∗​, the relevant sensing time for a dc field, is much shorter than the spin coherence time T2{T}_{2}T2​, which determines the sensitivity to ac fields. Here we demonstrate measurement of dc magnetic fields using a physically rotating ensemble of nitrogen-vacancy centers at a precision ultimately limited by T2{T}_{2}T2​ rather than T2∗{T}_{2}^{*}T2∗​. The rotation period of the diamond is comparable to T2{T}_{2}T2​ and the angle between the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) axis and the target magnetic field changes as a function of time, thus upconverting the static magnetic field to an oscillating field in the physically rotating frame. Using spin-echo interferometry of the rotating NV centers, we are able to perform measurements for over 100 times longer compared to a conventional Ramsey experiment. With modifications our scheme could realize dc sensitivities equivalent to demonstrated NV center ac magnetic field sensitivities of order $0.1\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nT}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{Hz}}^{\ensuremath{-}1/2}$.
T2T_2T2​-limited dc Quantum Magnetometry via Flux Modulation
High-sensitivity magnetometry is of critical importance to the fields of biomagnetism and geomagnetism. However, the magnetometry for the low-frequency signal detection meets the challenge of sensitivity improvement, due to multiple types of low-frequency noise sources. In particular, for the solid-state spin quantum magnetometry, the sensitivity of low frequency magnetic field has been limited by short T2∗T_2^*T2∗​. Here, we demonstrate a T2T_2T2​-limited dc quantum magnetometry based on the nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond. The magnetometry, combining the flux modulation and the spin-echo protocol, promotes the sensitivity from being limited by T2∗T_2^*T2∗​ to T2T_2T2​ of orders of magnitude longer. The sensitivity of the dc magnetometry of 32 pT/Hz1/2\rm pT/Hz^{1/2}pT/Hz1/2 has been achieved, overwhelmingly improved by 100 folds over the Ramsey-type method result of 4.6 nT/Hz1/2\rm nT/Hz^{1/2}nT/Hz1/2. Further enhancement of the sensitivity have been systematically analyzed, although challenging but plenty of room is achievable. Our result sheds light on realization of room temperature dc quantum magnetomerty with femtotesla-sensitivity in the future.
Quantum sensing with solid-state spins offers the promise of high spatial resolution, bandwidth, and dynamic range at sensitivities comparable to more mature quantum sensing technologies, such as atomic vapor cells and superconducting devices. However, despite comparable theoretical sensitivity limits, the performance of bulk solid-state quantum sensors has so far lagged behind these more mature alternatives. A recent review [Barry et al., Rev. Mod. Phys. 92, 015004 (2020)] suggests several paths to improve performance of magnetometers employing nitrogen-vacancy defects in diamond, the most-studied solid-state quantum sensing platform. Implementing several suggested techniques, we demonstrate the most sensitive nitrogen-vacancy-based bulk magnetometer reported to date. Our approach combines tailored diamond growth to achieve low strain and long intrinsic dephasing times, the use of double-quantum Ramsey and Hahn-echo magnetometry sequences for broadband and narrowband magnetometry, respectively, and P1 driving to further extend dephasing time. Notably, the device does not include a flux concentrator, preserving the fixed response of the nitrogen vacancies to magnetic field. The magnetometer realizes a minimum sensitivity of 460fTs1/2460\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\mathrm{fT}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{s}}^{1/2}460fTs1/2 in a broadband dc-sensitive mode and 210fTs1/2210\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\mathrm{fT}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{s}}^{1/2}210fTs1/2 in a narrowband ac mode. We describe the experimental setup in detail and highlight potential paths for future improvement.
High-sensitivity magnetometry is of critical importance to the fields of biomagnetism and geomagnetism. However, magnetometry for dc and low-frequency signal detection faces the challenge of sensitivity improvement, resulting from the low-frequency noise induced by multiple types of noise sources. In particular, for the solid-state spin dc quantum magnetometry, the sensitivity has been limited by short dephasing time. Here, we realized the conversion of the magnetic signal from dc to ac by utilizing a flux concentration and modulation (FCM) technique so that the dynamical decoupling method can be applied to prolong the dephasing time. Hence, we have successfully demonstrated a dc magnetometer with a sensitivity of 32 pT/Hz1/2^{{1}/{2}}1/2, which is about two orders of magnitude over that of the Ramsey-type dc magnetometer. Further enhancement of the sensitivity is systematically analyzed, although is challenging but plenty of room is achievable. Our results shed light on the realization of room temperature dc quantum magnetometry with femtotesla-sensitivity in the future.
We demonstrate an absolute magnetometer based on quantum beats in the ground state of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond. We show that, by eliminating the dependence of spin evolution on the zero-field splitting D, the magnetometer is immune to temperature fluctuation and strain inhomogeneity. We apply this technique to measure low-frequency magnetic field noise by using a single nitrogen-vacancy center located within 500 nm of the surface of an isotopically pure (99.99% 12C) diamond. The photon-shot-noise limited sensitivity achieves 38 nT/sqrt[Hz] for 4.45 s acquisition time, a factor of sqrt[2] better than the implementation which uses only two spin levels. For long acquisition times (>10 s), we realize up to a factor of 15 improvement in magnetic sensitivity, which demonstrates the robustness of our technique against thermal drifts. Applying our technique to nitrogen-vacancy center ensembles, we eliminate dephasing from longitudinal strain inhomogeneity, resulting in a factor of 2.3 improvement in sensitivity.